Chapter 4: A&X. Inc.

*

"Do 

or 

Do not. 

There is no try."

-YODA-

*

For the next few days, Yusra became busy. With the extra club activities she had and the upcoming basketball that everyone was raving on about had kept her busy. She barely made time to eat and when she did, it was in a rush. She honestly could not wait to be home and resting that weekend.

By the time the week came to an end, her anxiety took its peak. A & X. Inc has not replied yet. By Friday afternoon, she was stumped knowing that she did not get in. But I did so well at their software testing! Don't tell me because I gained access, they don't want me?!

Her fellow colleague, Zain Khan took a seat beside her on the bench and gave her a smile.

"You didn't get any emails too?" he questioned and she shrugged, leaning onto the wooden bench. Zain's blue eyes glinted against the sun as he continued to smile at her.

"It is okay. None of us got any emails. I am sure you'll get in" he told her and she nodded at him, closing her eyes.

"Why are you here?" she questioned him, not opening her eyes. Zain's eyes never left her face for a minute.

"Because you are here" he replied simply. Yusra knew Zain liked her. But for heaven's sake, the amount of hints she dropped that she didn't reciprocate his feelings were immense. So much, that Yusra was sure everyone, even the dust around her, knew she did not like him back except Zain himself. She let out an audible sigh.

"Zain. Don't you have classes now?" she asked him and his eyes widened before checking his watch. He indeed had a class and he was late. He turned to her and grinned.

"I am glad you know my schedule. Do come to see me play today afternoon" with that, he stood up and ran. Yusra let out another sigh just when her phone's notification popped up. She picked it up and opened her email.

A & X. Inc. She grinned as she opened it. She knew she had been accepted. She tapped in a confirmation reply before sending it. She then called her father to let him know she was in.

Great things come to the patient.

-

Three days later, Yusra stood infront of the large building that read A & X. Inc in bold white letters. The building was small compared to the ones around it but Yusra knew its worth. She stood outside for a while, taking deep breaths. It's okay, Yusra. It's okay. You got this! She repeated the words like a mantra until her breathing evened out. This is a huge deal! I am interning for one of the top IT companies in all of Asia! She straightened her back and checked the time on the black casio digital wristwatch. 8:40am. They had a reporting time of 9am.

Yusra did a final check of her outfit (the same one she took an hour to put together today morning). She straightened her wine colored button down skirt which fell a little above her ankles and then the white top she had paired with it. The top read Summer in yellow with the sun and beach cartoon around. Her hijab was wine colored too. The entire outfit was paired with white Nike Airforce ones.

"Hey" she let out a gasp, taking a step back. Zain laughed from beside her and she glared at him. He held his hands up in surrender, still smiling.

"You look ni-" Yusra stopped him right there, holding her hand up to him.

"Um no." with a roll of her eyes, she marched towards the entrance leaving Zain in a daze. Zain chuckled lightly before jogging to keep up with her strides.

Yusra never thought she would one day, run for her life like she had just now. He needs to realize, there can be absolutely nothing between us. Who thinks of these things anyway?!

She walked through the automatic doors and stood by the reception, waiting for the lady to notice her. When the lady (with a name-tag of Rita) noticed her, she flashed a smile.

"Good morning, Miss. How may I help you?" she asked and Yusra showed her phone to her.

"I am here for the internship" she replied. Rita's eyes widened in acknowledgment.

"Right. You may wait in the lobby. At 9am, Markos will be with you" she told Yusra who nodded at her. Rita called out for a boy to show Yusra and Zain (who had come a little later) to the lobby.

As they walked, Yusra took her time to admire the place. It had high ceilings and beautiful paintings lining the walls. She has been here before but on the other side of the place. This place is beautiful! 

"Please wait here" the boy told them, gesturing to the open door in front of him. Yusra thanked him and walked inside. The lobby had a white and black theme. The walls were white, decorated with different paintings. One wall had lots of green vines dropping from the ceiling and Yusra found this very pretty. The sofa's were black and there was a clear glass coffee table at the middle with stacked magazines.

Yusra looked around as she walked in. She saw two boys already there. She smiled at them before taking a seat opposite them.

"Hey. Are you here for the internship?" The chocolate haired one questioned. Yusra nodded at him. He grinned at her.

"We are too. I am Jackson. Nice to meet you" he extended his hand out. Yusra nodded at him before shaking it and introducing herself. The second boy was Zhau Han but people called him Old Han. After the two introduced themselves, Zain introduced himself too. The four of them set around the coffee table with an awkward silence in the air.

Yusra took this time to read up on A & X. Inc, not that she had not done so before. But extra information is always good.

"Good morning gentlemen" a male voice rang through the room. Yusra raised an eyebrow standing up. The man at the door immediately turned to her with an apologetic look.

"I apologize. I didn't know we had a female intern. Good morning to you too" he said and Yusra smiled slightly at him. Guess they are un-used to female interns?. Yusra, it is not used, the word un-used is inapprop-, her mind began correcting her thoughts and she sighed. 

"Good morning" she instead replied to the man with a smile. The man clapped his hands.

"Alright. My name is Markos. Just call me that. I am Mr. Reza-Ibrahim's PA and I officially welcome to you all to A & X. Inc." he said and gestured them to follow him. Yusra followed him first and then the three boys did too. They walked out of the lobby and towards the elevators.

"So lets set the house rules okay? This place works as a family so no back-stabbing here. If you back-stab us, we will back-stab you and trust me, you don't want Mr. Reza- Ibrahim on your bad side" Markos explained just as the elevator doors opened. He walked in and the others followed. Yusra knew quite a lot about Islah Reza-Ibrahim. He was someone who always made it to the cover page of famous magazines each time he stepped out of his office. Okay so maybe that was a little exaggeration on Yusra's side but she felt it that way. The man was known to be a genius and the current CEO of Reza. Inc. There was nothing about his ruthless nature but maybe it existed. After all, Yusra has not met the man face to face.

Yusra followed them into the elevator and stuck to the front row.

"House rules again. There are 6 floors. The second and up floors are strictly staff only. Any non-staff members are not allowed. Office hours are from 9am-5pm but you may have to put in extra hours for projects. Depends. You will be paid, don't worry." Markos said. The elevator doors opened on the second floor and they walked out. Yusra looked around the place with a smile.

"This floor is refreshment floor. Basically relaxation space" Markos told them. Yusra noted a few male employees with ID cards around their necks, lounging around on the bean chairs. There was a large counter at one side, behind which were coffee machines and other things on a counter. Beside the counter was a large pantry. Markos pointed at it, telling them it contained all kinds of snack.

"Finish something, tell Mrs. Zhan to buy more. Also, do not, at any cost finish the coffee. If you see the coffee is about to finish, imagine it being Code Red which means emergency by the way, and tell Mrs. Zhan immediately." Markos said and Yusra rolled her eyes. Life without coffee would be boring. But have y-all tried tea?!

"Umm Markos" They turned to Jackson who spoke. "Who is Mrs. Zhan?"

Markos let out a small laugh. 

"She is the company caretaker. Basically a mother to everyone here so don't think too much into it when she smothers you all with motherly stuff" Markos told them and they nodded at him. 

Yusra continued to look around the place again, seeing large bean bags around, pool tables and gaming devices. She grinned. Gaming devices?

"Ah the gaming devices are free to use. Just don't break them, please" Markos said and they nodded. Markos began walking to the other side of the room where a series of wide steps laid.

"Now, the third floor till fifth floor is our working space. The third floor is software designing and modifying space. Fourth is strategic and analysis space and fifth is testing space. The sixth or the top floor is our major floor since it houses the CEO's office plus the CFO's office and other rooms. Be careful on the fifth space though. It gets dangerous there" Markos told them and they noted it. Yusra bounced on her feet as they took the stairs to the third floor. Even the stairs are rugged here!

Markos stepped onto the third floor and walked towards a large screen mounted onto the wall. Yusra looked around the place with twinkling eyes. Again, this place was dominated by men. Not a single women in sight. Are there even female workers here?

"This screen-" Markos said, gesturing to the large LED screen in front of him, "will have your ratings. As you go on with your work here, this will be updated. It is automatic which means the better reviews you get from the mentors here, the higher your ratings. It is based on your work efficacy and ethics. Now, if there is any breech in this system, we will be immediately notified and whoever is responsible for the breech shall be asked to leave. Are we clear on that?" The interns nodded. Yusra wanted to laugh at the rating system. Just how exactly does it work? Gaming? Manual input? Scoring? Rating from mentors?

"Good. Another thing to note is that, every year after the two month internship we give two best interns a position in our company. The top two that is. So if you want to work with us, get in that top two" Markos stated and Yusra's heart rate increased slightly. Just how much do you want this Yusra? A lot? Good. Then work for it!

"I will divide you into different departments. Every two weeks, you will change. After six weeks, your work will be evaluated and department heads will be consulted. Whoever the department heads chose as their intern shall be placed there for the remaining days. So basically, if you wish be part of a certain department, work harder in it so that their chiefs chose you. Clear?" again, the interns nodded. Markos smiled brightly, showing them his white pearly teeth.

"Ah right. Introduce yourselves please" he said, remembering he did not ask them for an introduction. Zain went first, followed by Jackson and Old Han. Yusra was the last one. When Yusra introduced herself, recognition fell upon Markos' face. Please tell me he doesn't remember me from a bad experience. Please.

"Alright. Chose where you guys want to go" Markos said and the interns grinned. Yusra knew where she wanted to be at. Analysis and Strategic section. Here, she would be able to analyze the software/ program and break open any encrypted work. Breaking through firewalls is my favorite hobby, she thought with a glint in her eyes.

"Testing" Jackson and Old Han said at once. Markos nodded at them.

"So you both have to choose between Analysis and Design" he said to Zain and Yusra. Zain frowned and Yusra held her hand up.

"Analysis please" she told Markos. She took analysis. The team is going to be so delighted to have her, he thought with a smile.

"Analysis goes to Yusra. So I take it; designing for you, Zain?" he questioned and Zain nodded with a forced smile.

"Alright. Lets introduce you guys to the department chief's first" he said, walking towards the elevator. The doors opened and he got in with the interns following suite.

"Our conference hall is on the top floor. I'll introduce you to the chiefs and they'll take over" he said. Yusra bounced onto her feet one again as the elevator went up. Will my department chief hate me? What if I can't work with them? Ah well. I've always been the odd-ball of the family so embrace it, Yusra.

The doors opened and Marko's strode out, towards the large door that read conference hall in black and gold. Impressive, Yusra thought with a smile. The top floor looked grand with high ceilings and a large chandelier at the beginning of the large hallway.

"Come in" Markos guided them inside. Yusra walked in first and saw four elegantly dressed men seated on the black leather swiveling chairs. Their heads turned to them as soon as the door opened. They look..... young? Too young to be department heads but okay.

Markos led them to the front of the room and began their introduction. When it was Yusra's turn, she held her hand up awkwardly. What else am I supposed to do? Or say?

The chiefs nodded with a laugh before moving onto the next one. Yusra breathed out a sigh of relief. Please let me survive whatever this is. 

****

As salaam alaikum my beautiful loves. 

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-aaliiha.